*Dr. Rodolfo JohnOrtiz Teope, PhD, EdD
The other day, while driving along Mindanao Avenue corner
Congressional Avenue, I found myself slowing down at the sight of beggars
crowding both sides of the road. Children with dusty faces tapped on car
windows. Mothers cradled infants in their arms, whispering words of comfort
that did little to mask the hunger etched on their faces. Fathers, their eyes
tired and defeated, stood quietly, holding out their hands, hoping for just a
few coins. In that moment, I realized they cared nothing about the heated debates
in the Senate or the flood control scam dominating the news. They only cared
about one thing: survival. Will they eat tonight? That was the only question
that mattered to them.
When I got home and turned on the television, the contrast
hit me like a wall. What I saw was not about poverty, or hunger, or jobs. What
I saw was filibustering—senators speaking endlessly, stretching debates with technicalities, drowning each other with words. I listened for solutions but
heard only delay. I watched for progress but saw only obstruction. And it
struck me: while those beggars wait for food, while families wait for jobs and
classrooms, our leaders waste precious hours protecting themselves and their
allies through endless speeches that go nowhere.
Filibustering, I realized, is not just about wasting time.
It is about wasting lives. Every hour spent in grandstanding is an hour stolen
from the poor. Every day consumed by legal gymnastics is a day when no law is
passed to put rice on tables or roofs over heads. Those who stand at the
rostrum may think their voices are powerful, but to the Filipino people
outside, those voices are a wall—a barrier that blocks the solutions they so
desperately need.
I thought of the missing sabungeros whose families still
wait for justice, of children squeezed in overcrowded classrooms, of farmers
tilling the land without support, of hospitals that cannot heal because
resources are scarce. These are the real stories that demand attention, yet
they are drowned in the noise of filibustering. Instead of urgency, we get
delay. Instead of decisions, we get distractions. And in the end, the people
who suffer most are the ones who were never even part of the conversation.
And this is not theoretical. We saw it in the blue-ribbon
hearings, where hours upon hours were consumed by privilege speeches that
strayed from the issue, often weaponized to defend allies implicated in
corruption. We saw it in debates over the national budget, where instead of
hammering out solutions for education, health, and jobs, senators buried the
discussions in repetitive arguments, delaying disbursement of funds critical to
social services. Even during impeachment proceedings in past years, filibustering
became a tactic to stall the inevitable, with speeches longer than court
testimonies, not for the sake of truth but for the sake of survival. In all
these instances, filibustering was not a shield for democracy—it was a sword
pointed at the heart of national development.
The more I watched, the more I saw how filibustering has
become a weapon. It is used not to clarify but to confuse, not to enlighten but
to obscure, not to protect the people but to shield the plunderers. The Senate,
meant to be a place of service, often feels like a theater where political
survival is the main performance. The poor remain outside the gates, unheard
and unseen, while debates inside circle endlessly, producing nothing but
frustration.
And yet, I cannot help but think of the greater tragedy
behind it all. Every time filibustering takes the stage, the nation loses
focus. The cameras follow the speeches, the headlines cover the drama, and the
people are led to believe something meaningful is happening. But it is an
illusion. The truth is that filibustering is a distraction, a way to buy time,
to bury accountability, to prevent decisions from being made. And while we are
distracted, hunger grows, poverty deepens, and hope withers.
This is why I return to the doctrine of Timpuyog Pilipinas:
to love rather than hate, to unite rather than divide, and to build rather than
destroy. I think of it often when I watch our leaders. Filibustering embodies
the very opposite. It divides instead of unites. It destroys time instead of
building solutions. It feeds on hate and suspicion instead of compassion and
service. It has become a mirror of what politics should never be.
And so I ask: how long must the Filipino people wait? How
long must that child on Mindanao Avenue wait for food while senators argue
endlessly? How long must the farmer wait for support while privilege speeches
consume session hours? How long must teachers wait for classrooms, workers wait
for jobs, mothers wait in hospitals with no doctors, while filibustering
continues to block the path to development?
I cannot accept that this is the kind of democracy we must
endure. I cannot accept that delay and obstruction should define the lives of
millions. If senators continue to waste time in speeches that serve no one but
themselves, history will not remember the words they spoke—it will remember the
hunger they ignored, the poverty they prolonged, and the nation they abandoned.
Filibustering is more than a parliamentary tactic; it is a
betrayal. It is the theft of time, of opportunity, of progress. It is the
reason why, while the world moves forward, our nation remains stuck. The people
do not ask for perfection. They ask for food, for jobs, for education, for
justice. These are not luxuries; they are the very essence of governance. And
every day that filibustering delays action, those promises slip further away.
For me, the choice is simple. Our leaders must abandon
obstruction and embrace service. They must rise above politics and finally see
the faces outside their halls—the hungry child, the weary worker, the forgotten
Filipino. Because when politics distracts, the nation suffers. And when
filibustering replaces leadership, the nation is betrayed.
The time for endless debate is over. The time for national
development is now.
____________
*About the author:
Dr. Rodolfo “John” Ortiz Teope is a distinguished Filipino academic, public intellectual, and advocate for civic education and public safety, whose work spans local academies and international security circles. With a career rooted in teaching, research, policy, and public engagement, he bridges theory and practice by making meaningful contributions to academic discourse, civic education, and public policy. Dr. Teope is widely respected for his critical scholarship in education, management, economics, doctrine development, and public safety; his grassroots involvement in government and non-government organizations; his influential media presence promoting democratic values and civic consciousness; and his ethical leadership grounded in Filipino nationalism and public service. As a true public intellectual, he exemplifies how research, advocacy, governance, and education can work together in pursuit of the nation’s moral and civic mission.
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